Prosecutors urged to ask US Embassy for Pemberton fingerprints, DNA samples

MANILA, Philippines—The Olongapo police handling the killing of transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude said that the Olongapo Prosecutors’ Office has yet to ask the US Embassy for the fingerprints and DNA samples of Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton.

Senior Superintendent Pedrito delos Reyes, Olongapo City Police chief, said over the phone that the city prosecutor’s office will have to make a request first before the US Embassy could give Pemberton’s samples to the police.

Lawyer Harry Roque. INQUIRER.net/RYAN LEAGOGO

This was after lawyer Harry Roque, the Laude family’s counsel, demanded the Pemberton’s camp to present the US Marine even just to accommodate the family’s request for his fingerprints and DNA samples.

In a Tuesday forum at the University of the Philippines Law Center, Roque was baffled over the absence of Pemberton’s fingerprints, saying that this was the only case in his 25 years of criminal law practice that there were no fingerprints of the suspect presented.

According to Roque, the fingerprints and DNA sample would serve as a basis to compare the semen specimen and fingerprints found at the crime scene.

Witnesses said Pemberton and Laude met at a disco bar in Olongapo on Oct. 11, then went to a motel room where Laude’s body was later found in the bathroom. She had apparently been drowned in the toilet bowl, according to police.

When Pemberton was brought to the Philippine military’s custody in Camp Aguinaldo last week, Laude’s family demanded the military to allow them to confront Pemberton.

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